How much do Google Adwords cost and do they really work?

Hi Gloucester Nettl! I hope you can you help me? I’ve heard that Google Adwords can be a great way of getting new customers, but do they really work?

I can see that you are a Google Adwords partner which means you must know what you are doing. Can you tell me how these Google Adwords work and if they will work for me and my Gloucester business?

No problem, let me explain a little about how Google Adwords work.

Google Adwords allow you to specifically target people who are likely to be interested in your business when they are searching online. You can specify keywords and key phrases/long tail keywords, (which potential customers would be searching for) time of day (when they are likely to be searching) geographic location and even the type of device they are searching on. All to make sure your website is recommended to the people most likely to be interested in your business.

You can get really detailed and even target people who have visited your website before.

Google adwords is a fantastic way to show your website to the people who are looking specifically for your products and/or services you provide.

What about offline sales?

A lot of my current customers come into my Gloucester shop or call me. Surely this isn’t the right thing for me to be investing in?

Actually, 65% of buying decisions start online, even if they end somewhere else.

By coming up in Google searches you will gain more customers, you can even customise your adwords to encourage customers to visit your shop or pick up the phone, if this is the most appropriate for your products or services.

Ah ok, that makes sense, I’m a small business though, is it worth me doing it?

Surely larger businesses will have bigger budgets, buy all the keywords and achieve the best results, so is there any point in me trying to compete?

It’s absolutely worth it. Spending an additional £1 on advertising benefits a small business 8 x as much as a larger one.

A much smaller investment is needed from a small or medium sized business to see a significant results in lead generation compared to larger companies.

Oh, that’s really interesting!

I didn’t know that, but my product is also very niche. Will Google Adwords work for me?

It’s actually ideal for niche products.

Google Adwords can help you to reach a customer base in a different geographic region than Gloucestershire even if you want. Perhaps one where they wouldn’t otherwise know about your business.

That sounds great, but how will I know whether I am choosing the best words, days, times, devices and geographic area etc?

What if I choose the wrong area or keywords/phrases?

We will research what might work best for you, monitor the analytics, tweak accordingly and what’s best… you will only pay Google when leads are generated to your website.

You’ll receive a report at the end of each month but can also check how your ads are performing whenever you want to see them. You can cap your spend so you will never pay more than you expect to and only pay when the given metric is achieved (e.g. when someone clicks through to your website).

Ok, this is actually sounding like a good idea! How much does this cost though?

All I can find online is average costs, how can I find out what using Google Adwords will actually cost me upfront and make sure I don’t end up with a bill I cannot afford?

The basic cost of our Google adwords management is £60 per month. Everything on top of that you can control.

Everything on top of our £60 per month management depends on the metric you use and the budget you set. So if you don’t want to spend more than £1 per day on top of our monthly management fee, you don’t have to.

Ah ok, that does sound like something I could afford then. But am I tied into a contract? What if I want to stop?

What if I have a difficult month and want to stop paying for Google Adwords? Do I have to sign up for a set period of time?

Don’t worry, you’re not tied into a contract.

You can stop using Google Adwords immediately without giving any notice and then start up again whenever you’re ready. You just pay for the time that your Google Adwords are active.

Oh that’s a relief, my website is pretty good though, I’ve just paid for a new one. Is this going to be a duplication of effort and investment?

Now that my website is responsive I’m coming up much higher in searches anyway. Isn’t this good enough already? Surely there is no point in paying for Google Adwords too?

You pay less for Google Adwords when your website is well optimised. Research shows that people are more likely to look at the paid search results at the top of the page.

Optimised websites and Google Adwords work well together so you are not wasting your money at any point. You pay less for Google Adwords when your website is optimised as the sponsored words do not have to work as hard and Google can see the Quality Score it gives your website is higher. Research shows that paid search results are more likely to get noticed!

Thanks for all this – it’s been really helpful, I need to have a think about what we need exactly.

This has been so helpful, thank you! I’ll have a think about the options open to us and come back to you with a full brief of our requirements.

No problem!

Come back to us with the details of your requirements and we can get started. We are a full Google Certified Adwords partner so can handle everything for you and you can trust us. In the meantime if you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to get in touch – you can pop into our Gloucester web studio on Westgate Street for a coffee and a chat at any time!